People Change
by Deadly Poppy
Summary: People change. Embry knows that. But when his first crush moves back after four years, he is sure that somewhere deep down, she's still the same person. She doesn't think so. It doesn't help that he imprinted on her.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: this is one.**

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It was lunchtime, Embry's favorite time of the day. Why? Because he got to talk to the girl he was in love with.

Or so he thought. Because who really ever knows what love is at the age of eleven?

But for Embry, love was the petite strawberry-blonde haired girl that he talked to at recess (only ever at recess, for their paths never seemed to cross anywhere else) who always had a book in her hand (ALWAYS) but would put it down just to talk to him.

Maybe that's what love is. Having someone who will always stop what they are doing, no matter what, to talk to you.

For Samantha, however, only eleven, just as Embry was, love was different. Love was the only friend she'd ever had, even if he didn't know it. Love was the only person who could give her a reason to put her book down to come back to the real world.

So there they were, both subconsciously eating lunch as quickly as they could so as to see each other faster. Once they were finished (and if you'd asked them five minutes later, neither of them would have been able to tell you what they ate), they rushed to the playground, Samantha somehow always managing to beat him there, her book already in front of her face when he got there.

But she always put it back in her backpack when she saw him.

"Whatcha reading'?" This was always the firs thing Embry ever said. It was how they had met, and he never wanted to break that tradition.

"Harry Potter," she said, this particular day. Every few days, her book would change. "The first one."

"Cool," Embry said, and he meant it. "What's it about."

And Samantha would tell him, breaking out of her shy, quiet shell to talk to him with lots of arm gestures and grinning. She would get so excited that her bulky glasses were constantly falling down her nose, and she had to stop every few minutes to push them back up.

Embry didn't like reading, but no one ever knew, because when asked what book he'd read lately, he could simply describe Samantha's latest book. She could tell a story so well, she held his attention longer than anything else ever could, and he could almost perfectly recount everything she'd said.

"So what did you do last night?" This was another thing Embry always said. And as surely as he would ask the question, Samantha would lie about the answer. Not that Embry ever knew. Embry was too young to know what all the adults said about Samantha's drunk father, and her mother who was too scared to leave him.

"I watched a movie with my family," she said today. "We had popcorn, and me any my older sister had a popcorn fight."

Embry would laugh at this, then it was his turn to talk. He would recount everything that had happened to him the previous day. He usually talked about doing this with his two best friends, Jacob and Quil, but occasionally he would mention his mom. Samantha loved hearing these stories. She liked imagining she lived at Embry's house instead of her own.

Then lunch would end, and Samantha and Embry would say goodbye, see you tomorrow.

But that night, something happened at Samantha's house. Though so many things could have happened to stop it, it happened.

If Samantha's father hadn't gotten fired, nothing would have gone wrong.

Or if Samantha's mother had left her father long ago, it would have been fine.

Or even if Samantha's sister had been out with her friends, instead of getting home before her mother or Samantha, they would all still be the same today.

But Samantha's father did get fired, and her mom didn't leave him long ago, and her sister was home. And Samantha's father, after getting fired, had drank far more than he usually did, and he hit Samantha's sister, Cathy. And Cathy was unconscious when Samantha got home.

When her father saw Samantha, he was angry. He yelled at her, even though she had no idea what she'd done wrong. She was scared and her older sister was unconscious, so she did the only thing she could think of. She ran.

She didn't have to run far, only to her next door neighbor's house. She was crying and shaking by the time she got there, but it was okay, her neighbor already had an idea what had happened.

And so after that day, Samantha's mom had done something she had never had the strength to do. She packed up her two daughters and moved them to San Antonio, Texas. And Samantha hadn't seen Embry since.

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**In case it was unclear, Cathy didn't die. I couldn't do that, it was too horrible.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

"Sam!" Mom called. "Sam, you're going to be late for school!"

I groaned and rolled out of bed, dragging my covers with me. Mom yelled something again, and I picked myself up, walking sluggishly to the bathroom to brush my teeth.

I was somewhat nervous at the prospect of going back to school in La Push. Though it had been four years since I left, being here still brings back memories. But when Cathy moved out of the house, Mom decided she wanted to come back here, where her family is. When we arrived yesterday, everyone greeted her back with open arms, telling her how strong she's been.

As I pulled on my favorite brown tank top and camo jacket, I remembered that last time I was here, I was wearing Cathy's hand-me-downs, at least three sizes too big.

And as I pulled on my jeans, I remembered that my glasses ad been big and bulky and always breaking. Now I had smaller, thick-framed glasses that all my friends back in San Antonio had said were stylish.

And as I put my hair into its signature French braid, I realized that last time I was here, I was a totally different person.

The realization hit me hard, and I dropped my backpack. It was true. The last time I was here, I had only one friend in the entire world. I had an abusive, drunk father, and a sobbing, terrified mother. To put it simply, last time I was here, I was Samantha. And now I was Sam.

I grabbed my backpack and said goodbye to my mother, walking the three blocks to La Push High School, wondering the whole time if anyone would even remember me.

As I walked in, I noticed three things. One, my strawberry blonde hair (now shiny and flat, while four years ago it had been unbearably frizzy and tangly) stood out amidst a sea of black and brown hair. Second, there was a small group of HUGE kids in one corner, keeping to themselves, and three, all eyes were on me.

I walked nonchalantly through the hall to get to the front office. I guess not everyone's totally interested in 'the new girl'. the lady at the office didn't seem to care one way or the other, as soon as I got out of there ASAP.

I got out of the office before it was even time for my first class, so it went to sit in the cafeteria.

Once I sat down, I contemplated pulling out my book, but thought better of it when I realized everyone was still watching me. Samantha would have pulled out a book. Sam was cooler than that.

"Hi!" a girl said happily, sliding into the seat across from me. "I'm Analisa!"

"Sam," I told her with a friendly smile. The name didn't appear to ring any bells for her.

"So, you're new here?" I nodded. "Then I'll show you around!"

I could tell this girl was popular. She had two pom-poms sticking out of her backpack, and she was, well, beautiful.

Samantha would have been awkward, not knowing what to say to this girl who so obviously thought she was worthy of talking to.

But this was the biggest change in me since leaving here. When we left my dad, my mom went to live with our grandma, who refused to let me wear Cathy's hand-me-downs. New clothes and glasses seemed to be all I needed to attract people.

And that's how it began. The first was a girl named Diane. She stuck to me like glue until I got out of my awkward stage. Diane was popular, which made me popular by association. And that was when I really stopped being Samantha, and became Sam.

Samantha was gone.

"That'd be great!" I told Analisa, smiling kindly. And that was all the encouragement she needed to grab my arm and dragged me through the hallway.

She walked me through the entire school, and introduced me to all her 'friends' (meaning every popular person at La Push High School), but then it was time for first period.

Apparently none of the popular people took AP courses. That put me all alone almost all day.

I took a deep breath, stood up straight, straightened my jacket, and walked into AP English.

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**Embry POV**

That was when I really got a good look at her. I hadn't been able to really see her that morning, not that any of us really cared about 'the new girl'. I mean, we sort of had other things on our minds.

But when she walked into that AP English classroom, I new there was no way I'd ever have anything else on my mind again.

She was beautiful. She was amazing, and pretty, and smart, and funny, and oh my god I just imprinted.

I tried to use to Force to send her a message to sit in the empty seat next to me. I'd like to say that it worked, but as the seat next to me was the _only _empty one, it wasn't like she had a choice.

As soon as the teacher started droning on about our latest book, I turned to the girl, who also appeared to have tuned the teacher out.

"I'm Embry," I said to her. She looked surprised.

"Embry Call?" she asked incredulously. I nodded, confused.

"Sam," she said, gesturing to herself.

"Sam…" I said, trying to remember. "Samantha Watson?" I asked, my eyes wide.

She shook her head. "It's Sam now. I'm not…I'm not the same person I was back then."

I nodded. "Yeah, when you left, everyone was talking about…you know."

She nodded. "That's why I'm different now. No one has to remember that. I can just be me. The new me. Sam. You can't say anything!"

"I promise," I told her.

"Hey, I though you didn't read," she said with mock suspicion.

"You caught me," I laughed. "I had to start after you left. Turns out I'm pretty good at it."

She laughed at my joke, flipping her hair. It was beautiful, but something wasn't right. She wasn't the same person I had a crush on four years ago. Not on the outside at least, she had changed.


End file.
